52Frames Self Portrait

I belong to a weekly photo challenge. And at the beginning of every year the subject is “self portrait.” It’s probably one of the most difficult challenges for obvious reasons. I suppose with the advent of selfies it’s not such a hard thing to do. And if the definition of a portrait means “no smiling” I will be way off. I don’t have a tripod that works very well so I don’t use the timer function at all. I tried a few “selfies” standing next ti the bedroom window in the early dusk light. I didn’t like any of them. Then I used my iPad and tried a few shots in the mirror that were interesting but not very good. On a morning walk in the park it was a useless case. Then I tried a few more in the mirror above the dresser and they just didn’t look right either. Then I remembered that my new iPhone 14 pro max has a high key portrait function. For whatever reason I like the way high key photos look. So I tried a few of them and they turned out reasonably well. My husband and I whittled the number down to three and couldn’t decide. So I posted them on instagram to see if any of the three had more traffic. But I also posted them on my business Facebook page seeking the opinions of anyone who was looking. In the end I picked the one with the most overall traffic - even though it wasn’t either of our favorites. It sure took a lot more time than usual to complete this week - and I don’t think the submission will even be noticed! 

52Frames_Portrait

My husband refused to participate and the crisp, clear photos of the cicadas didn’t meet the requirement of a human portrait for the 52Frames photo challenge this week. That left one subject - me. The idea was to create an environmental portrait. That meant adding elements to the image that reflected that person’s personality - or something like that. So the only things I could think of, given the limited options, was to make sure an iPad was in the frame, and something about digitalart and custom pet portraits. That approach lead to a day of difficult positioning and lighting and focusing using my iPad Pro as the camera. It was even more difficult afterwards to find something that was halfway decent. The quality of the photos was questionable, and the subject was not a happy one. I liked the idea of a mirrored reflection and half of a face. After reviewing, cropping, and recropping several photos and discussing it ad nauseum with my husband the selected image was made. It included half a face, an obvious iPad, and the hint of a custom pet portrait on the T-shirt I was wearing. I’m not very happy with this week’s challenge at all, and this is the 27th week I’ve been participating. This week is “wide angle.” I’m not sure how it will be accomplished with my iPhone, but something hopefully will pop in to my head. 

52Frames Self Portrait

I’m not really a photographer but I love taking photos - ever since I can remember. My dad also liked taking photos and had a very complicated looking contraption with manual settings. We used to watch his slides that he took on the wall with a projector. I had a Swinger instant camera in the 60’s, one of the first Sony video cams, one of the first digital cameras that used discs, and assorted Sony cameras. Once the iPhone came along that’s all I use now. So when I joined 52frames about six weeks ago on the encouragement of a friend, taking a photo challenge each week is the primary goal. This week happens to be “self portrait” to start off the new year. Some of the challenges are easier than others. Luckily we can drive in to DC for a broader range of options; there is the park in the neighborhood for outdoorsy things; and then there are the four walls to try to be creative. So “self portrait”was a four walls challenge - for me. I had a photo from my recent birthday that I used to sketch on my iPad. Usually I’m painting pet portraits which are a lot more complicated and take a while to complete. A simple sketch doesn’t take that long. A few other ideas popped in to my head but I couldn’t execute them without a tripod. It was hard enough to take the photo using my left hand. So, it’s an interesting way to spend time each week and then see how everyone else interprets the subject matter. Next week the challenge is lines that lead to something. I have a feeling that’s going to be a bit more complicated.